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Thursday, March 29, 2018

REVIEW: Digging In by Loretta Nyhan @luauthors @amazonpub @lorettanyhan

Digging In
by Loretta Nyhan

Thank you so much to Amazon Publishing / Lake Union Publishing for this absolute delight!


Publisher:  Lake Union Publishing
Publishing:  April 1, 2018
Paperback
252 Pages
Stand alone
Genre:  Chic Lit, Contemporary, Women's Fiction

Goodreads Synopsis:

In author Loretta Nyhan’s warm, witty, and wonderful novel, a widow discovers an unexpected chance to start over—right in her own backyard.


Paige Moresco found her true love in eighth grade—and lost him two years ago. Since his death, she’s been sleepwalking through life, barely holding on for the sake of her teenage son. Her house is a wreck, the grass is overrun with weeds, and she’s at risk of losing her job. As Paige stares at her neglected lawn, she knows she’s hit rock bottom. So she does something entirely unexpected: she begins to dig.

As the hole gets bigger, Paige decides to turn her entire yard into a vegetable garden. The neighbors in her tidy gated community are more than a little alarmed. Paige knows nothing about gardening, and she’s boldly flouting neighborhood-association bylaws. But with the help of new friends, a charming local cop, and the transformative power of the soil, Paige starts to see potential in the chaos of her life. Something big is beginning to take root—both in her garden and in herself. 


My Review:


What a delightful, sparkling and hopeful story.  I had no idea what I was walking into.  When Ashley at Amazon Publishing brought me this copy, I think she knew this wasn't my usual type of read... and then told me it was worth it and it absolutely IS! 

The only thing I could even nitpick at is that I felt Paige was portrayed older than her forty-three years of age.  Maybe it's because that is exactly how old I am and she felt older to me.  We're also completely opposite people.  I know I look young for my age, I definitely act younger, never been married and no kids so......... basically I couldn't really relate to her.  HOWEVER, I absolutely fell in love with her.  Her snarkiness, her wit, her will to thrive in a company she's been at for years now over powered by young thoughts and new action plans.  YOU GO GIRL!  In this power hungry world of ours, people do tend to feel outdated and struggle with having to start over once you hit your 40s.  I've already done it a couple of times and thankfully things have worked in the positive but I GET IT - it's hard out there!

I think this book will resonate with anyone who has dealt with any kind of loss, looking to find a way to work through the grief and dealing with all types of personalities.  Maybe this will resonate more for women in their 40s, or mothers and widows who have been THROUGH IT.  Either way, you get an incredible story.  

You know what REALLY did it for me?  The acknowledgments from the author.  I'm telling you, readers, if you don't read these in the books that you do pick up, you're doing yourself a huge disservice.  The author talks about how she had to deal with her own husband's unexpected death and how it stopped her from continuing to write this book for quite some time.  So a lot of her own experiences leap off of these pages - even if her and Paige's occurrences were completely different. Reading about this just launched this book up to one of my favorite reads so far this year.  It was exactly what I needed right now.

Love is unexpected.  Love is powerful and all consuming.  Love HURTS.  Grief is horrible, whether dealing with the end of a relationship or the actual loss of a living human being.  Learn to grow. Learn to forgive.  Learn to hold on while letting go. Learn to LIVE.

All the tomatoes and stars for this emotional, yet funny, read. DIG IN.

★★★★★
🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅



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